Gephart Electric

Gephart Electric has been an electrical contractor in the Twin Cities since 1977, when Dan Gephart and Ken Heinsch started the business. The firm works from 3550 LaBore Road in St. Paul and runs divisions covering electrical construction, low-voltage systems, preconstruction and design, service and maintenance, and signs. It holds Minnesota electrical contractor licence EA000729 and Wisconsin licence 665620-EC, and is an IBEW Local 292 signatory. Gephart travels well beyond its home market, with projects in Minnesota, Nevada, Arkansas and Tennessee, including the electrical and low-voltage package on the 1.75-million-square-foot Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas for the Mortenson and McCarthy joint venture. The firm served as design-assist electrical contractor on the Minnesota State Capitol restoration.

The succession behind Gephart Electric explains a good deal about how the company operates. Ken Heinsch took sole leadership in 1982 and ran the business until his death in 2003, at which point his wife Carol and sons Greg and Larry took it over. Greg and Larry Heinsch are listed today as Vice President and Principal, and the firm describes itself as family-owned.

Work is organised into four divisions rather than one contracting arm: Gephart Midwest, Gephart Low Voltage Systems, Gephart Mid-South and Gephart Signs. The low voltage division operates out of the same St. Paul address, so power and systems work can be packaged together instead of split across two subcontracts.

The Mid-South operation works from a second location at 1574 Old Commerce Road in Robinsonville, Mississippi.

Delivery methods named by the firm are the ones general contractors ask about early: design-build and design-assist, BIM and VDC coordination, prefabrication, and IPD and LEAN delivery, along with technology in the field and rope access for work at height. Preconstruction and design services sit alongside the construction and service groups.

Sector experience is concentrated in healthcare, education, hospitality and manufacturing, across projects of varying size and complexity.

Safety is handled through an internal Safety Committee, set up so field staff feedback reaches the people writing the practices rather than stopping at the foreman.

A testimonial published on the services page comes from Paul Krienke, Superintendent at PCL Construction Services, and credits the company with recovering schedule on a fast-paced project — the kind of reference that matters more to a GC than a materials list.

The St. Paul office is at 3550 LaBore Road, St. Paul, MN 55110, on (651) 484-4900. Service and maintenance work is handled as a standing division rather than only as follow-up to construction jobs.